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3232Cottrell, Hope set up Windies’s eight-wicket winhttps://gysportssource.com/2018/12/17/cottrell-hope-set-up-windiess-eight-wicket-win/
https://gysportssource.com/2018/12/17/cottrell-hope-set-up-windiess-eight-wicket-win/#respondMon, 17 Dec 2018 11:37:47 +0000http://gysportssource.com/?p=17993Now you know why Carlos Brathwaite said: “Even if Shai has to play with a stretcher, I will volunteer to carry the stretcher between the wickets.”
Shai Hope was hit on his helmet in the third ODI against Bangladesh but looked at his sublime best in the first T20I between the sides in Sylhet, hitting 55 off 23 balls with the help of 3 fours and 6 sixes to help the visitors take a 1-0 lead. But the win was set up by Sheldon Cottrell’s aggressive bowling earlier that saw him finish with a four-wicket haul.
Bangladesh had been sweating overnight on Shakib Al Hasan, and they would be thankful that he played. An innings of 61 off 43 is what Shakib played amidst ruins at the other end, that saw four wickets tumble inside the powerplay.
Tamim Iqbal, dropped off the bowling of Oshane Thomas, fell in the next when he was hurried by a short ball from Cottrell. Soumya Sarkar fell to a short ball too, top-edging Cottrell. Oshane Thomas had Liton Das charging down and top-edging a short ball whereas Mushfiqur Rahim was a victim of a bad call he made, and was run out.
It helped that Shakib, despite the jitters and the edges, found a way to make some quick runs because there were no partnerships that Bangladesh could build. The 30-run stand between Shakib and Ariful Haque looked to be taking Bangladesh to safer shores but the latter’s wicket to Fabian Allen changed the script. Shakib’s wicket in the 18th over was the fourth Cottrell picked, and as a result Bangladesh crashed to 129 with an over to spare.
Shai Hope started off with three sixes in Mehidy Hasan’s first over, getting Windies off to a quickfire start with 45/0 in three overs. When Hasan returned to bowl his second over, Hope took toll again and scored 18 runs off it, including 2 sixes and a four.
Hope was caught in the deep off Mahmudullah in the eighth over but Keemo Paul took over beautifully, hitting 28 off 14 balls to get Windies home with 9.1 overs to spare.
Brief Scores: Bangladesh 129 in 19 overs (Shakib 61; Cottrell 4-28) lost to Windies 130/2 in 10.5 overs (Hope 55, Paul 28*) by 8 wickets

]]>https://gysportssource.com/2018/12/17/cottrell-hope-set-up-windiess-eight-wicket-win/feed/0prv_1545039452mrzangetsuLyon, Hazlewood leave India in agonyhttps://gysportssource.com/2018/12/17/lyon-hazlewood-leave-india-in-agony/
https://gysportssource.com/2018/12/17/lyon-hazlewood-leave-india-in-agony/#respondMon, 17 Dec 2018 11:36:33 +0000http://gysportssource.com/?p=17990It could very well have been two entirely different Tests, on two entirely different pitches.
Australia and India played out an action-packed penultimate day of the Perth Test, with the hosts going back with the advantage, reducing India, chasing a daunting 287 to win, to 112 for 5 at Stumps. Nathan Lyon and Josh Hazlewood took two wickets each to leave India tottering.
The contrasts in the game were highlighted by a Perth pitch that behaved like it had a personality disorder. One was the benign, calm one that made the bowlers toil, and the other a capricious, temper-tantrum throwing track that made the batsmen fear for their safety.
The calm one was on show in the morning session. Usman Khawaja and Tim Paine played out a wicketless session, scoring at a snail’s pace to further the hosts’ advantage. They bored down the Indian bowlers, offering a dead bat to almost everything that was thrown their way.
India’s bowlers kept things tight by bowling to strict lines and lengths. Jasprit Bumrah was the most dangerous, while Ishant Sharma and Mohammed Shami too troubled the batsmen on quite a few occasions.
But just as the break loomed, the pitch started showing that it was only becoming tougher to bat on, with a few balls jumping off a length, while as many kept surprisingly low. The closest India came was when Bumrah was presented with a run out chance off his own bowling, but his throw went wide and Khawaja survived. Australia scored only 15 runs in the first 12 overs. Khawaja went on to bring up his 14th Test fifty, off 155 balls, with a flick off Ishant.
If the first session was all patience and attrition, the second burst to life like a slumbering monster which suddenly remembered it had to wreak havoc. Eight wickets fell in the frenetic session, with the pitch suddenly turning into a near-unplayable one.
Shami breathed fire immediately after the break. He had Tim Paine caught at second slip with a snorter that lifted viciously from short of a length. The Australian captain was caught awkwardly fending at the ball, and gloved it to Virat Kohli at second slip. Aaron Finch came back out to resume his innings, having retired hurt the previous day. He lasted just one ball. Shami’s delivery rose up again, and Finch gloved one through to Pant on the leg side.
India took the new ball soon after, and Shami continued to ping in deliveries that did all sorts regularly. Khawaja, who had batted with great patience for his 72 in over 200 balls, got another rip snorter. He tried to pull his gloves out of the way, but couldn’t, giving Shami his fifth wicket – his fourth fifth-wicket haul in Tests.
Bumrah brought out the contrast in the pitch. A length delivery to Pat Cummins refused to go more than a few inches from the ground, and snuck below the batsman’s bat to castle him. Lyon fell to a top edge soon after as Australia slid from 192 for 4 to 207 for 9. India’s target then was 250 – a daunting one, but still one that the visitors would have fancied given they were looking at a target closer to 300 at one stage.
Incidentally, that’s how it turned out. Hazlewood and Starc took their chances and swung their bat around, and suddenly runs came in a hurry. Their 36-run stand left India deflated, and eventually Bumrah ended the innings by bowling out Starc for 14.
India were left to chase 287, and on a pitch that looked more dangerous with every passing delivery, it looked massive. 23 balls later, it looked near insurmountable.
KL Rahul inside edged Mitchell Starc in the very first over to depart for a duck, while Cheteshwar Pujara got a steepler that he edged behind to Paine. India were two down for 13.
Kohli and Vijay settled the nerves down with a 35-run stand as the demons in the pitch went to sleep again. But that allowed the genius of Lyon to shine through. He outfoxed Kohli with one that did not spin as much as the batsman expected, while Vijay was out bowled driving a tossed up off spinner.
Hanuma Vihari and Ajinkya Rahane again steadied the ship. Their stand of 43 helped India close in on the three-figure mark, but again just as India looked to settle down, Rahane went for a booming cover drive and ended up giving point a catch.
Vihari helped India finish the day off without further setbacks but India’s lower order will have to bat out of their skins if they are to pull off a miracle and score the remaining 175 runs tomorrow. For Australia, they can bank on the two-faced nature of the pitch to wrap up the rest of India’s fragile batting order.
Brief scores: Australia 326 & 243 (Usman Khawaja 72, Mohammed Shami 6/56) lead India 283 & 112/5 (Ajinkya Rahane 30, Josh Hazlewood 2-24, Nathan Lyon 2-30) by 175 runs.

]]>https://gysportssource.com/2018/12/17/lyon-hazlewood-leave-india-in-agony/feed/0prv_1545041565mrzangetsuMessi scores hat trick to keep Barca 3 points clear in Spainhttps://gysportssource.com/2018/12/16/messi-scores-hat-trick-to-keep-barca-3-points-clear-in-spain/
https://gysportssource.com/2018/12/16/messi-scores-hat-trick-to-keep-barca-3-points-clear-in-spain/#respondSun, 16 Dec 2018 22:34:11 +0000http://gysportssource.com/?p=17986BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Lionel Messi scored a hat trick and set up two more goals to lead Barcelona to a 5-0 victory at Levante on Sunday, restoring the defending champion’s three-point lead of the Spanish league.

Messi netted his 18th, 19th and 20th goals in all competitions this season after setting up Luis Suarez to get Barcelona rolling at the Ciutat de Valencia Stadium.

Already trailing 4-0, Levante lost Erick Cabaco in the 76th minute with a direct red card for cutting down Ousmane Dembele.

]]>https://gysportssource.com/2018/12/16/messi-scores-hat-trick-to-keep-barca-3-points-clear-in-spain/feed/0201812161516549808487mrzangetsuLiverpool’s big win over Manchester United highlights divide in class between England’s historic powershttps://gysportssource.com/2018/12/16/liverpools-big-win-over-manchester-united-highlights-divide-in-class-between-englands-historic-powers/
https://gysportssource.com/2018/12/16/liverpools-big-win-over-manchester-united-highlights-divide-in-class-between-englands-historic-powers/#respondSun, 16 Dec 2018 22:32:23 +0000http://gysportssource.com/?p=17983A second-half brace by substitute Xherdan Shaqiri gave Liverpool a thoroughly deserved 3-1 win against Manchester United at Anfield on Sunday, sending the Reds back atop the Premier League and reinforcing the current divide in class between England’s two most historically successful clubs.

Here are three quick thoughts on the match:

Sadio Mane opened the scoring for Liverpool in Sunday’s 3-1 win over Manchester United at Anfield on Sunday. (Carl Recine/Reuters)

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Liverpool was utterly dominant

Manchester United actually started the game with a couple of promising forays deep into Liverpool territory, and for a second appeared to have scored off a fluky sequence only for Romelu Lukaku to be correctly ruled offside. It didn’t last more than a few minutes, though. For the next half hour, right up until Jesse Lingard’s equalizer against the run of play (more on that later), the Reds were beyond dominant.

United was pinned back in its own end for long stretches as Liverpool knocked the ball around, with Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah in particular probing for an opening. On the rare occasions when the Red Devis got the ball, they quickly turned it over, unable to cope with the Reds’ relentless press. The home side peppered David de Gea’s net with shots, 15 of them in the first half alone, forcing the Spaniard into five saves. Even with several Liverpool regulars missing through injury, it was men against boys.

And it was just a matter of time before the goal would come. Mane finally found it in the 24th minute, when he darted between defenders Ashley Young and Victor Lindelof and expertly controlled Fabinho’s pinpoint pass with his chest before cooly volleying the ball between De Gea’s legs with his left foot:

Only Alisson’s howler gave United any chance

At that point, it looked like Jurgen Klopp’s side would roll. Klopp’s counterpart Jose Mourinho, who opted to keep World Cup winner Paul Pogba out of his lineup for the third consecutive league game, had no answers. Mourinho would’ve been as surprised as anyone by what happened next.

It looked like an innocuous play initially. Manchester United had gotten forward against the run of play, but the hosts were well covered in the box when Lukaku shaped up to serve in a hopeful cross from the left side. The service went straight to Alisson. But the Brazilian keeper — who has been excellent in backstopping Liverpool to an unbeaten record through 17 games — spilled it. Lingard was there to immediately punish his error:

Shaqiri the star man for the Prem’s title favorite

In a way, the subs told the story of where these teams are in 2018. With $100 million-plus man Pogba looking on from Mourinho’s bench, Shaqiri stole the show. Bought for just $17 million over the summer from relegated Stoke City, the little Swiss attacker has been the perfect role player for Klopp, who has in turn used him to maximum effect as a complementary player.

With United content to sit back for the final 45 minutes, Shaqiri was summoned to help pick the lock, and did with devastating effect just moments after coming on:

Even the 3-1 score line doesn’t sufficiently show how much better Liverpool was in this match, and how vastly superior to United the Reds are these days. It’s not close. Once perennial title favorites Manchester United are now an almost unthinkable 11 points out of fourth place. They may have made the knockout stage of the Champions League this season but only a miracle run will get them back into Europe’s top club competition next year. Either way, it’s clear that Mourinho is living on borrowed time.

Meanwhile, by beating United convincingly for the first time in nine tries and leapfrogging Manchester City to go back atop the table in the process, Liverpool served notice that under Klopp it is evolving into perhaps this year’s favorite, the emerging Red-clad superpower that its historic rivals only used to be.

Three substitutes were involved in United’s late goal, with Ashley Young and Jesse Lingard playing key roles in the build-up to Marcus Rashford scoring. But Valencia were already 2-0 up after Carlos Soler’s low strike and a Phil Jones own goal.

As well as criticising his starting line-up Mourinho expressed his frustration at having to make substitutions he “did not want to make”.

“(It) was a good match to play, a match without any kind of pressure, a match in a competition that everybody likes to play.

“And, in the end, my team improved, really, when I made the changes that I didn’t want to make, which is a little bit of frustration because I didn’t want to play the three players that I played in the second half.”

]]>https://gysportssource.com/2018/12/13/jose-mourinho-criticises-starting-players-after-champions-league-defeat-by-valencia/feed/0CapturemrzangetsuSpurs reach last 16 as Moura snatches draw at Barcahttps://gysportssource.com/2018/12/12/spurs-reach-last-16-as-moura-snatches-draw-at-barca/
https://gysportssource.com/2018/12/12/spurs-reach-last-16-as-moura-snatches-draw-at-barca/#respondWed, 12 Dec 2018 12:00:53 +0000http://gysportssource.com/?p=17977Tottenham achieved “mission impossible” by qualifying for the last 16 of the Champions League, according to manager Mauricio Pochettino.

Lucas Moura’s 85th-minute equaliser earned a priceless point at Barcelona, as Spurs completed an unlikely turnaround in Group B having collected only one point from their first three games.

They needed to match or better Inter Milan’s result at home to PSV Eindhoven and had faced elimination when Mauro Icardi cancelled out PSV’s early goal.

Moura’s goal swung the advantage back in Spurs’ favour but an agonising wait followed before it was confirmed Inter had failed to find a winner against the group’s bottom side.

“I am so happy for the fans – this is a massive, massive achievement for the club,” said Pochettino.

“We suffered because when we finished the game we did not know the result at Inter. It was two very difficult minutes, but in the end of course we were so happy. It’s so important for the club.”

The Premier League side had gone behind to Ousmane Dembele’s early strike but then peppered Barcelona’s defence with wave after wave of attacks, with both Harry Kane and Son Heung-min going close.

They finally made the decisive breakthrough five minutes from the end when substitute Moura, who moments earlier had a header cleared off the line, fired in.

Spurs become only the eighth side to qualify from the group stage after claiming only one point from their first three games.

BBC Sport

]]>https://gysportssource.com/2018/12/12/spurs-reach-last-16-as-moura-snatches-draw-at-barca/feed/0moumrzangetsuMalinga, Mathews among 9 players with INR 2 Cr base price for IPL auctionhttps://gysportssource.com/2018/12/12/malinga-mathews-among-9-players-with-inr-2-cr-base-price-for-ipl-auction/
https://gysportssource.com/2018/12/12/malinga-mathews-among-9-players-with-inr-2-cr-base-price-for-ipl-auction/#respondWed, 12 Dec 2018 11:54:23 +0000http://gysportssource.com/?p=17974346 cricketers, including 226 Indians, have been shortlisted for the upcoming Indian Premier League auction. Nine players have listed themselves at the base price of INR. 2 Crore.
Brendon McCullum, Chris Woakes, Lasith Malinga, Colin Ingram, Shaun Marsh, Corey Anderson, Sam Curran, Angelo Mathews and D’Arcy Short are the players who have listed themselves at the highest base price.
Among Indians, Jaydev Unadkat has the highest base price of INR. 1.5 Crore – a figure he shares with nine other foreign players. Among the 19 players who have listed themselves at INR. 1 Crore, there are only four Indians – Yuvraj Singh, Wriddhiman Saha, Mohammed Shami and Axar Patel.
Only two Bangladesh players have been shortlisted – Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah. Among the top players from Bangladesh, with Mustafizur Rahman not allowed to participate by the BCB, and Shakib Al Hasan already being retained by Sunrisers Hyderabad, Tamim Iqbal was a notable miss.
Eight players from Afghanistan have been shortlisted while USA also has a representation in the form of Muhammad Khan.
The franchises were asked to submit their final shortlist by December 10, 5 PM. The auction will take place on December 18.
Number of players from each country: India – 226, South Africa – 26, Australia – 23, West Indies – 18, England – 18, New Zealand – 13, Afghanistan – 8, Sri Lanka – 7, Bangladesh – 2, Zimbabwe – 2, USA – 1, Ireland – 1, Netherlands – 1.
IPL auction shortlist

Veteran left-arm spinner Veerasammy Permaul was the pick of the Jaguars bowlers, as they overcame defiant batting from the Volcanoes to stretch their unbeaten run in the Championship to 19 matches, dating back to the 2016-17 season.

It was also the Jaguars’ seventh win over the Volcanoes in their last nine matches and keep their five-year unbeaten run against this opponent in place.

Warde grabbed 4-33 from 15.5 overs to lead the demolition of the Pride batting, Joseph supported with 3-16 from 13 overs and leg-spinner Damion Jacobs added 2-37 from 10 overs, as the home team were bowled out inside the final half-hour before tea.

The result was formalised, when former WINDIES Under-19 World Cup-winning star Chemar Holder mistimed a lofted drive at a delivery from Warde and was caught at mid-off for a first-ball duck.

Chasing 170 for victory and resuming from their overnight total of 13 for one, the hosts stumbled to 82 for four at lunch, and suffered a huge setback in the first over after the interval, when their captain Sharmarh Brooks was one of six batsmen that was bowled in the innings.

Brooks led the way with 32, wicketkeeper/batsman Tevyn Walcott made 30 and Jonathan Carter got 24, but there was little stability from the Pride batting and they suffered their second straight defeat to the Hurricanes on home soil in this format.

Hurricanes opener Keacy Carty was named Player-of-the-Match for his first innings hundred.

]]>https://gysportssource.com/2018/12/10/jaguars-hurricanes-start-with-wins/feed/0wicbmrzangetsuIndia withstand Australia’s gumption to seal famous winhttps://gysportssource.com/2018/12/10/india-withstand-australias-gumption-to-seal-famous-win/
https://gysportssource.com/2018/12/10/india-withstand-australias-gumption-to-seal-famous-win/#respondMon, 10 Dec 2018 11:46:04 +0000http://gysportssource.com/?p=17968India overcame a spirited defiance from Australia to clinch a narrow, thrilling victory on the final day at Adelaide. A last-wicket stand worth 32 between Nathan Lyon (38*) and Josh Hazlewood took Australia within 32 runs of victory before the latter was dismissed by R Ashwin to help India go 1-0 up in the series in dramatic fashion.
Australia made a fist of a stiff chase with a string of useful lower-order stands worth 41, 31, 41, 31 and 32 as they made India work hard for the victory. Three of these partnerships were ended by Bumrah including that of top-scorer Shaun Marsh for 60.
Marsh had led Australia’s resistance with a patient knock in the first session as he put on 41 with skipper Tim Paine and led the charge against R Ashwin’s off-spin. By playing him confidently, forward and back, Marsh dented India’s plans of dictating terms with spin. He soon got to his first fourth innings fifty in Test cricket and his partnership with Paine, coming after Travis Head was prised out early by an Ishant snorter, kickstarted Australia’s defiance through the day.
However, Bumrah coming in for his first spell of the day had the better of him from a round-the-wicket line, repeatedly challenging him in the channel outside off and eventually getting him caught behind.
The next batsman in, Pat Cummins, survived nervous moments against R Ashwin’s big off breaks from the rough. He had two TV reviews going in his favour – the first a caught behind appeal taken by India and the second his own. Given out caught at short leg, Cummins reviewed and was vindicated as replays confirmed that the ball had come off his forearm.
Together with a busy Paine (40), Cummins survived and pursued the fight. But Bumrah, soon after Lunch, had Australia’s captain top-edging a pull. Mitchell Starc, who followed that wicket, played in typically brisk fashion even as Cummins held fort at the other end. That stand was ended when Starc played one drive too many and edged Shami behind to give Rishabh Pant his 11th dismissal of the match.
Wickets though continued to come at a premium for India, with Lyon being put down by Pant, and Ashwin not able to extract enough pace off the pitch along with his turn. It was Bumrah once again who managed to induce an outside edge to end Cummins’ 121-ball stay with Australia still 64 away.
But Lyon, along with Hazlewood, stretched and rode their luck in a last-wicket stand that had India sweating for a while before KL Rahul took a low catch to bring the Test to a dramatic end after a 68-ball resistance
It gave India their first victory in an opening Test in Australia and first since 2007-08.
Brief scores: India 250 and 307 (KL Rahul 44, Cheteshwar Pujara 71, Ajinkya Rahane 70; Nathan Lyon 6-122) beat Australia 235 and 291 (Shaun Marsh 60, Tim Paine 41, Nathan Lyon 38*; Mohammed Shami 3-65, R Ashwin 3-92, J Bumrah 3-68) by 31 runs

]]>https://gysportssource.com/2018/12/10/india-withstand-australias-gumption-to-seal-famous-win/feed/0prv_1544422869mrzangetsuAshwin exploits Adelaide conditions to rattle Australiahttps://gysportssource.com/2018/12/07/ashwin-exploits-adelaide-conditions-to-rattle-australia/
https://gysportssource.com/2018/12/07/ashwin-exploits-adelaide-conditions-to-rattle-australia/#respondFri, 07 Dec 2018 12:24:41 +0000http://gysportssource.com/?p=17965It took all of three overs for the comparisons to start. R Ashwin had just commenced his fourth over of the morning when a split-screen image popped up on TV. On one side was a freeze-frame of Nathan Lyon’s fingers at the point of release; and on the other, that of Ashwin’s. The seam was a lot more vertical on Lyon’s side of the screen while it was significantly at a slant in Ashwin’s fingers -even if the grips for their respective off-breaks weren’t too dissimilar.
The discussion in the commentary box was inevitably about the difference in their styles and the contrast in their numbers Down Under. How Lyon thrives on over-spin and hence has been successful on Australian surfaces with their extra bounce. Why Ashwin depends on side-spin and therefore hasn’t been as successful here as he is back home where there’s a lot more sideways spin on offer. Ashwin incidentally had been asked during the practice match in Sydney about what he’d learnt from Lyon’s bowling over the years. The opinionated offie had insisted how “silly” it would be for him to try and “replicate Lyon” despite the mutual admiration between the two. And once Lyon had put the Indians on notice on the opening day, Ashwin was always going to be under scrutiny once he got the ball on Friday (December 7).
The Adelaide pitch, as he would reveal later in the day, was a lot slower than it was expected to be. The sponginess was enabling the Kookaburra to grip a lot more than it usually does on these hard surfaces. It meant Ashwin could stick to his natural tendencies with the ball. Not that Ashwin’s the sort who wouldn’t have stuck to his guns even if the pitch was any different. He’d in fact categorically said he wouldn’t change anything last week.
The slowness aside, it was still a wicket without any significant turn. So it was imperative for Ashwin that he didn’t let his line or length alter too much. It was also imperative that he bowled the right pace to ensure that the stodginess of the surface could be exploited. That’s exactly what he did.
This is Ashwin’s third tour to Australia. He was all of three Tests old – all of them against a struggling West Indian outfit on home soil – when he came here for the first time. And he couldn’t quite come to grips with the conditions here. He was 21 Tests old with just over a 100 wickets to his name when he came back four years ago. Though slightly better, he still couldn’t quite create the impact that was expected of him, especially with his Australian counterpart having made the big leap up in terms of skills and performances, on these pitches.
There was a significant difference in how Ashwin went here as compared to the 2014-15 series though. While just over half of his deliveries were floated up in the air and were slower than 87 kph – according to CricViz – back then; three-quarters of the 31-year-old’s deliveries on Friday were tossed up at a “slow in the air” range. For once in Australia, he didn’t seem like an over-eager Ashwin trying to make a point and thereby compromising on his natural strengths but a calm Ashwin making a point by sticking to his natural strengths.
It helped that Australia’s inexperienced batting-order kept choosing caution over bravado against Ashwin, unlike some of their predecessors. Debutant Marcus Harris was the only one to step down and loft him for a four over mid-off. You could have imagined the likes of David Warner and Steve Smith using their feet a lot more in a bid to upset his rhythm.
In addition to the grip off the wicket, the breeze that flowed from east to west when he bowled his 22-over spell from the River End, also aided him in generating consistent drift that kept the left-handers in check, and always committed to play at the ball.
To Ashwin’s credit, he never fails to make the most of any favourable factor that comes his way, which is one of the many reasons that makes him such a world-class bowler. And it was use of the drift and the pace at which he bowled – holding the ball up and spreading the confusion in the Australian left-hander’s minds – that helped him snare two of his three victims. Harris had ironically fallen to one of his quicker deliveries on the day, which was fuller than his routine length and had him stuck in his crease and inside-edging to silly-point. Shaun Marsh and Usman Khawaja though were both beaten by the trajectory of the ball and its shape in the air. While Marsh was coaxed into playing a drive and playing-on to a delivery that was wider than he expected; Khawaja edged one that without the drift he could have conveniently left alone.

“I was getting drift both ways, in and out, and I was able to control both that drift and get the batsmen holding their feet inside the stump and outside the stump and hence hold them. That’s how we got Khawaja out and Marsh out as well. That’s something that really worked in my favour today because of the drift, the ball going away and coming back in. It happens in Melbourne, too. So I am backing on that to give me some really good results,” is how he would sum it up later.
Another strength of Ashwin’s that generally gets mixed reactions based on his results, is his attention to detail, even if it can seem pedantic to those not privy to his approach to the game or to the art of finger-spin. And India’s lead spinner had spent most of the practice session on the eve of the Test preparing for the slew of Aussie left-handers who he was slated to come up against.
He initially spent 15 minutes bowling solo at a pair of stumps from around the wicket, getting his angles and lines right. And then with Rishabh Pant busy with his wicket-keeping drills inside the stadium, Ashwin had Parthiv Patel pad up and face him for another 20 minutes, where he immersed himself further into fine-tuning his specific plans and strategies.
Ashwin of course wasn’t alone in keeping the Aussies in check. The Indian seamers had perhaps their most disciplined outing, collectively, on Australian soil in decades. With the pitch offering them little, they opted to sit back and squeeze the hosts rather than force the issue. In an unexpected twist, they were briefly even criticized for not doing what Indian seamers generally do on Australian pitches, going in search of assistance that doesn’t exist and therefore losing their lines, lengths and composure.
Bowling a driving length on Australian pitches when there’s not much in favour is akin is an act of kindness towards the batsman and not an attempt to get him out. For the trueness of the pitches then allows the batsman to trust the bounce and drive through the line, on the up. The Australians were rarely offered that privilege on Friday. Ishant Sharma, on his fourth trip to Australia which makes him perhaps the first Indian fast bowler to tour this part of the world on so many occasions – even Kapil Dev only toured here thrice – didn’t just finally get his act right, he led the way with the new-ball. He knocked out Aaron Finch in the very first over before slamming the door shut on whatever hopes the Australian batting line-up had of breaking free. Jasprit Bumrah didn’t start off too well, allowing Harris to pick him off, and conceding 24 runs in his first 5 overs. But he returned remarkably to concede only 10 runs in his next 15 overs, in which time he also got rid of the well-set Peter Handscomb and the dangerous Pat Cummins.
It was a day where Australia plodded along – with one former great even quipping “this is difficult watching” outside the commentary box – and the Indians ensured they never got away with Ashwin holding the leash.
As the sun set on Friday, Ashwin walked towards a few fans in the Riverbank Stand on his way out of the ground to the hotel. He stopped and posed for a few photographs, including one where he held on to one end of an Indian flag, which had messages printed on it. He even signed on the back of a fan’s t-shirt before finally walking away. It was perhaps the most relaxed Ashwin has looked at the end of a day’s play in a Test match on Australian soil, and understandably so. In his own way, he admitted to it too at the press conference when he said, “If I wasn’t happy with today’s spell, I won’t be happy with many other days.”

]]>https://gysportssource.com/2018/12/07/ashwin-exploits-adelaide-conditions-to-rattle-australia/feed/0prv_1544179184mrzangetsuAshwin holding the ball up in the air for longer resulted in the wickets of Marsh (above) and Khawaja